


Sneaking out

by Strength_in_pain



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Cute Mike Wheeler, Emo Mike Wheeler, Emotional Mike Wheeler, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Good Sibling Mike Wheeler, Good Sibling Nancy Wheeler, Hurt/Comfort, Mike Wheeler in trouble, Mike and Nancy Moments, Past Nancy Memories, Sad Mike Wheeler, Wheeler family - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-11
Updated: 2019-03-11
Packaged: 2019-11-15 19:13:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,086
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18079292
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Strength_in_pain/pseuds/Strength_in_pain
Summary: Mike sneaks out to see Eleven and Nancy covers for him. But Mike soon takes adavatage of his sister’s kindness which does not end well for him.Nancy is a good older sister who has to babysit Mike and Holly and she realizes she has a lot of responsibility.





	Sneaking out

**Author's Note:**

> Warnings: Corporal Punishment

Sneaking out late. 

Fourteen-year-old Mike Wheeler cautiously pushed back the covers and sat up on the edge of the bed, totally alert for any sounds of movement within the house. 

Ever since Eleven came back, Mike couldn’t stand being away from her. She was gone for over a year and Mike was so worried about her; he almost lost himself. But now, with her home, he felt more exhilarated and excited than ever before. He had to see her at least once a day. 

Mike’s mom and dad still don’t know about her, so he has to keep telling them that he’s hanging out at Dustin or Will’s house. But tonight, his parents insisted that he actually stay at home for the night because he missed dinner. He couldn’t see Eleven all day because he was in school. And after school Will needed him because he was worried about his mom. 

Joyce Byers is still sad about losing Bob. Will said she wouldn’t get out of bed this morning. At least she used to try. But today she wouldn’t get up. So Jonathan pulled Will out of school early. And as soon as Mike got out, his friend was waiting for him to tell him what happened. 

Mike spent the rest of the evening at Mrs. Byers cheering her up the best he could. She finally did get up, and they all ate the dinner Jonathan made. 

Unfortunately, Mike missed his family dinner at home and because Will picked him up from school, he forgot to tell his parents where he was going. 

They were talking about the annual science fair when the phone rang. Mrs. Byers answered and bit her lip.

“I am so sorry, Karen. He’s here. He’s with me. Shhh. He’s safe.” 

Mike almost choked on his glass of milk. Quickly, he scooted off the wooden chair and ran to the phone. 

“Can I talk to her?” 

Mrs. Byers nodded, running her hands through his jet black hair to comfort him as he took the receiver.

“Mom?” Mike whispered cautiously. 

“What were you thinking!” His mother yelled, but Mike could hear the soft sniffling sounds she made in between her shouting. 

“I’m sorry, Momma.” Mike doesn’t usually use his childhood term for his mother in front of everyone, in fact he normally wouldn’t be caught dead saying that, but he felt she needed some extra reassurance and relief. “Will was waiting for me after school. He said Mrs. Byers was feeling...” he looked up at the woman in name, she was still rubbing his hair. “She was feeling a little blue. So I came over to help. I’m sorry I forgot to tell you.” 

“Michael do you have any idea how worried I was? Two years ago, Will goes missing and an entire government conspiracy takes place in Hawkins and now you go missing for one night and I’m afraid the same damn thing is going to happen to you.” 

“I know -“

“If you knew, you should have called.”

“But mom,” Mike was feeling horrible, but he wanted to defend himself. “I can take care of myself. You don’t have to worry about me.”

“You are fourteen-years-old, Michael Wheeler, and you are still my little boy. Of course I’m going to worry about you. Now, I want you to come home right now. No. Forget it, I will pick you up myself, and you are going to spend the rest of the night in your room.” 

“But Mom, I have to see Dustin.” By that he means Eleven.

“One friend is enough for today.” She said shortly. “Stay where you are. I’m coming to get you.” 

With that, the phone went dead. Mrs. Byers wrapped her arms around Mike, squeezing him.

“Thank you for coming over. I’m sorry you’re in trouble.” She said rubbing his back. Will shot Mike the most sympathetic glance. 

“No. It’s no big deal. It’s just...I can’t see El.” 

Mike’s voice broke off at the end. Clearly, not seeing Eleven was going to be an issue. 

“You can see her tomorrow, sweetie.” 

“No.” Mike whined, “I promised her I would visit her every day. I promised!” 

“He can’t break his promise, Mom.” Will informed nonchalantly.

“Why don’t I drive you there quickly. You can visit her for two seconds and we’ll come back home.” 

“You can’t my mom’s coming here. It won’t take her long to get here.” Mike’s eyes started watering. 

“Oh sweetie, I feel horrible about this.” Mrs. Byers said helplessly. 

“This is bull.” Will muttered and Mike smiled gratefully at his friend, wiping away a single tear that fell down his face. Because yes, this is totally bull. 

“You’ll have to call her and tell her you can’t make it today.” 

Those words replayed in Mike’s mind as he laid in his bedroom. But now it was ten at night and if he called, the chief of police, Hopper, might get angry. So he had to go. It was his only option. 

Mike knew that his whole plan hinged on him being able to leave the house (and return before dawn) without alerting his over-protective parents to the fact. 

Mike quietly put on his blue jacket and collected his backpack, before silently sliding open his window. He was careful not to disturb the Sinclair's, his next door neighbors, as he reached out to grab hold of the nearby large tree branch, so that he could climb down to the ground. He had seen Steve Harrington do this a few times to try and get into his sister’s room. It worked for him, and it could work for Mike. With a last glance at the darkened house, Mike set off towards the forest at a slow jog, wanting to get there as quickly as possible.

Nancy awoke needing to pee. She quietly made her way to the bathroom to relieve herself. On her way back to her bedroom, the seventeen-year-old paused outside her little brother's room.

The kid wasn’t aware of it, but if his big sister awoke in the night, she would tiptoe to Mike’s room and check on him. Ever since the year where she almost lost her brother in more ways than one, Nancy swore she would be a better sister. She wanted to protect Mike and keep him safe. After all, Mike needed someone to be on his side. He still looks at her as if she has all the answers. He still looks at her like a role model so she wanted to play the role. 

Nancy quietly pushed open the door a crack to peek in only to fling it wide open a second later on spotting the empty bed.

"Mike?” She whispered. 

She moved immediately over to the open window and looked out. Suddenly, It dawned on her where he little brother went. 

This created a major dilemma in Nancy’s mind. She could rat on him for his own protection, so the kid could learn some boundaries, or she could help him get away with it. To protect him from her parents. 

Nancy wasn’t sure which way was better. Letting Mike get away with sneaking out could lead to something dangerous. But then again, Mike never told on her when Steve came over. Well, not directly. Although he did run his mouth about it slightly at breakfast. 

“Do a lot of studying last night?” He would tease. “What was your test on, again? Human anatomy?” 

Little brat, Nancy thought to herself, fuming, I should tell on his ass right now. I bet the kid would get his Walkman taken away, maybe even his Atari. But then he’d start whining and Nancy really didn’t want to listen to her brother bitch. 

Besides, Mike had a rough two years. He’s finally starting to shape-up now that Eleven’s back. It would be unfair for her to ruin his redemption by tattling. She could do this small favor for Mike. She loved the kid enough. 

So Nancy tucked herself in Mike’s blue bed, pulling the covers over her head. She fell asleep like that, hoping her parents would think she was him. 

“Michael.”

Nancy’s eyes popped open. It must be morning because she could hear the sparrows chirping outside. 

She felt really hot and sweaty under the covers, and she started to get up, but quickly remembered her plan and laid back down. 

“No, Mike, you need to get up.” Her mother said. “Come on. Nancy already went to school. You’re going to be late.” 

Shit this was incredibly awkward. She grunted in the lowest voice she could think of. “Umfff.” 

“Up. Now.” 

Nancy proceeded to thrash around in bed, muttering in her best male voice, “okay.” 

Thankfully, her mother left the room and Nancy could get out of that suffocating death bed. 

If it was morning, where the hell was Mike? She looked to the open window, and signed. At this point it looks like she’s going to have to tell her mom. And honestly, maybe that’s better for Mike’s safety. 

“Nance?” 

She turned to the open window where her brother was. 

“Jesus Mike. Could you be any later.” 

Mike hopped down from the ledge and shut his window. 

“What are you doing in my room?” 

“Saving your ass. You’re welcome.” 

Mike bit his lip, “you didn’t tell on me?”

“No. I knew you wanted to see Eleven so... I covered for you. But don’t make a habit of this Mike.” 

Her kid brother actually hugged her. It was so weird. The two of them don’t show affection toward eachother much anymore. 

“Nancy, I had the best time. It was late, so I had to sneak through her window too. But she wouldn’t open because she didn’t know I was outside. So guess what I did!”

“You threw rocks?”

“I threw rocks! I felt like I was in a movie, you know? But it worked! It really worked because she opened the window and was so excited to see me. Then we went out back and toasted marshmallows over a fire El created and we pigged out on potato chips. We also took part in the long-standing tradition of telling stories around the campfire and some of the things she told me...wow. It’s like she trusts me more than anyone else and that feels so good. It feels so good.”

Nancy couldn’t help but smile at her dorky little brother. Was he in love? It kinda sounded like it. But he was still so young. Nancy felt a stronger urge to protect him. 

“Well that’s great Romeo. I’m happy for you. But next time, don’t sneak out okay. I can’t keep covering for you.” 

“Okay. I won’t. I promise.” Mike said, leaving his room to go eat breakfast. 

The long wooden table was set up neatly with placemats and plates. This was very typical behavior for their mother. 

Mike took a seat across from his father and next to Nancy. It was his place, always has been, since Nancy could remember at least. As for her, well she was always across from her mother and next to her brother. It was a quaint little family of four, until Holly was born. Then it was a family of five. Even before Holly was born, the quaint little family was crumbling at the seams. 

Nancy remembers the nights where her mother and father would fight so loudly that she found it impossible to go to sleep. Mike was the same way. So Nancy would go into his room and invite him downstairs into the kitchen. They would sit at this very table, in their specific spots, and eat ice cream together right from the container. Mike was only eight at the time and he thought it was the ‘baddest’ thing ever. They had so much fun. 

“What are you smiling about Nancy?” Her mother asked kindly. She sounded genuinely curious and slightly amused. 

“Oh nothing, just a good memory.” She said, looking down at her plate. She reached for her fork and knife, then started cutting her bagel. 

“Can you pass the cream cheese?” Nancy asked, and her mother nodded, handing her the strawberry one. Then she turned back to her youngest daughter, Holly. 

“Come on, sweetie. Open up. You need your breakfast.” She said as she tried to get a blueberry in Holly’s mouth. 

“I don’t think she likes blueberries.” Mike said, as he smothered his bagel in Jelly and cream cheese. 

His mother gave up on the blueberries and went to the strawberries. Finally, Holly allowed a few pieces to be put in her mouth. After that, Karen stopped feeding her and turned to her own plate. 

“So.” She said, sounding exhausted. “What is everyone’s plans for today?” She looked to her husband who was reading the newspaper, and gave him a tiny kick under the table. 

“Huh? Oh, right.” Ted muttered, setting down his paper, “Michael we need to talk.”

“No. I haven’t told him yet.” Karen said, her eyebrows raised. 

“Told me what?” Mike asked. 

“You said you wanted my help breaking the news to him.” Ted said, ignoring Mike. 

“I do, Ted. But I wanted to at least give him a chance to talk about his day before we punish him.”

“Punish me for what?” Mike cried out much louder than before. 

“Settle down, Michael. You know very well what you did wrong.”

Mike turned to Nancy, “I thought you didn’t tell.”

“I didn’t.” 

“Wait what?” His mother asked, setting her fork down. “What did Nancy not tell me.”

“Nothing.” Mike gulped, quickly reaching for his glass of milk and drowning himself in it.

“Nancy.” Karen’s voice was firm. 

“What! I didn’t do anything.” Nancy shouted.

“Well, what did he do?” 

“I don’t know, I’m not his keeper. Why are you mad at him anyway?” 

“Does everyone forget that Mike wasn’t home for dinner yesterday? Does everyone forget how I spent the entire evening panicking because I thought my son was dead or missing?” 

Nancy bit her lip, and stared at her plate. It was beautifully designed with red flowers splattered around it. She wondered if it was something her mother bought, or if it was another one of the inherited items that came along with her father when her parents got married. 

Mike was still avoiding eye contact by sipping his milk. Nancy wondered if he would try to come up for air or if he was just going to finish the whole thing in one long gulp. 

“That’s what I thought.” Karen said, her blood pressure returning to normal. “Because you decided to scare me to death, you are grounded for the next two days. That means no going anywhere after school and no friends over. You can still play with all of your toys and your Atari. See. I think that’s fair.” 

Mike didn’t like it, Nancy could see it written all over his face, but he didn’t argue against it which was smart. Because honestly, that was not a bad punishment. Nancy would have been happy to have something like that, but not Mike. He wanted to see Eleven and being grounded was going to get in the way of that desire. 

“Nancy, I need you to pick him up after school and take him home. I’m going to take Holly to her preschool pageant. Afterwards, your father and I are going out to dinner so I need you to watch Holly and Mike tonight. 

“Ok, Mom. I don’t have any plans, luckily.” She muttered the last part. 

“Good because your father and I are really looking forward to this.” 

Nancy and Mike looked at their father who was back to reading the paper. Oh yeah, he looked real excited. 

Six hours later, Nancy stood outside the gates of Hawkins Middle School and glanced impatiently at her watch. Mike was late. The whole school seemed to have emptied of pupils and still there was no sign of her nerdy, puppy-eyed little brother. After another five minutes, Nancy impatiently made his way to Mike’s classroom. Mike’s teacher was sitting at her desk marking.

"Excuse me, Mrs Winters, have you seen my brother, Mike?" She asked politely.

Mrs Winters recognized Nancy, as she picked Mike up from school most days.

"He left with his classmates as soon as the bell rang. Is something wrong, Dear?"

Nancy shook her head. "No, I'm sure everything's alright. We must have just missed each other.”

Nancy set off at a brisk walk to her car. Okay what the hell? He better be at the house. Knowing Mike, though, he was probably with Eleven. 

The house was busy, her parents were getting ready for their night out. Karen Wheeler was fiddling over which dress to wear. 

“Oh Nancy! Good, you’re here. Which one?” She held two dresses in front of her. One was a dark blue, shoulder-padded, knee-length dress that was closely-fit to her body. The other one was a backless black dress that went to the floor. 

“They’re both really pretty, Mommy.” Nancy said, something she had said to her mother since she was a little girl. It was a way to ease her mother’s nerves more than anything. “I guess I like the black one.”

“You don’t think it’s too risqué?” 

“No. I think it looks perfect.”

Her mom smiled brightly. She bounced a little as she turned to head up the stairs. “Thanks sweetie.” 

As she went upstairs, her father came out of the kitchen with his dress shirt on. “Honey, what tie do you think your mother would like.” 

“The black one would go with her dress.” Nancy said while her father already walked up the stairs, away from her. 

She went down the basement, first, to look for her brother. He wasn’t there. She went to his room next and he still wasn’t there. 

Little brat better be at Eleven’s house or Nancy swears...

“Nance.” 

She jumped a foot in the air at her mother’s voice. 

“Yeah?” 

“Why are you in Mike’s room?”

“Oh...I was just, putting his walky-talky back.” She lied smoothly. 

Her mom frowned, forehead crinkling, “Where is he? I didn’t see him come home with you?”

“Oh he did.” Nancy wanted to face-palm herself. That’s the second time in two days she covered for her little brother. “He went to the basement to start his D&D campaign.”

“Alright.” Karen said, able to believe that with ease. “Um. Holly is in her room playing dolls. I think she wants to have a tea party. If you could play with her, that would be great. Make sure she’s in bed by 9:00. Mike needs to be in bed by 10:30. No boys in the house while we’re gone.”

“Mom!” 

“Well after the Steve thing -“

“Okay, okay. No boys.” Nancy’s face was beet red. Gosh, she wasn’t planning on doing that anyway. 

“Wonderful. Alright, sweetheart. Have a good night. Dad and I are staying at a hotel to hopefully have some hot-“

“Mom stop!” Nancy shouted, “I don’t want to know.” 

Karen giggled, “Sorry sweetie. I’m just excited.”

“I’m happy for you, mom. Go have fun. Don’t worry about us.”

“I’m not worried.” Karen said, “Last night I was panicking because Mike was missing, but knowing that you are all home safe tonight makes me feel so much better.”

Nancy laughed uneasily. “Yup. All here. All safe.”

She wishes she would stop talking. But just keeps digging her damn grave. 

As soon as her mom and dad left the house, Nancy picked up Holly and put her in the car, promising her a fun filled adventure and in exchange she would play tea-party later tonight. 

Holly happily complied. At least she had one good sibling. Nancy realized two things as she drove to Hoppers house. One, she really shouldn’t have lied to her parents because if Mike wasn’t at Hopper’s with Eleven she wouldn’t know what to do. Her baby brother could easily be missing. He could be freaking kidnapped and she should have probably already called the police. What if she’s the reason her brother is laying dead somewhere? Nancy wanted to cry at the sole thought. Secondly, she realized she was not a good driver, because she just got her license and she was a nervous wreak. She nearly swerved into a tree when she saw a squirrel run across the road. 

“Jesus” Nancy muttered under her breath for the umpteenth time. She looked through the rearview mirror at her little four-year-old sister. Thankfully she was safe, Nancy thought silently. 

When Nancy got to Hopper’s house, she knocked on his door hastily. No one answered. 

“Dammit, Mike.” Nancy pounded again. Still no answer. Her heart started to thump in her chest so loudly, she couldn’t hear anything over the big roaring sound. Her breathing sped up, and she felt weak in her knees. He has to be here. If he’s not here...where the hell was he? 

She turned to go to her car, when she caught sight of her brother’s bike laying in the yard. 

“You little bastard.” Nancy thought out loud. He was there, he just didn’t answer the door. She tried knocking for a while before giving up and waiting. He has to come out eventually. So she waited outside for an hour and fifteen minutes, trying to keep Holly entertained the best she could. They ended up having a tea party in the car. Holly was fine with it since she brought her stuffed puppy, Scruffy. Nancy did some homework during that time as well. She actually got it all done. Now she just had to study for a math exam later tonight. Or she could do it now, since her freaking brother was locked inside the sheriff’s cabin with the sheriff’s daughter. 

But as she was getting her flash cards ready, she noticed the front door open. 

Mike walked out, waving at Eleven before heading over to his bike. Nancy stepped out of her car and followed behind him. It amazed her how oblivious he was to her presence. Someone could have kidnapped him with ease. This thought angered her more. He was alone, without Hopper, in a house with another little girl, and he rode alone through the woods to get there. 

Mike bent over to pick up his bike, still oblivious to his big sister walking behind him. 

Her veins were showing on her forehead as she stormed over to him. She was beyond furious at this point and that’s probably what pushed her far enough to give him a hard slap right on the ass. 

“Hey!” Mike squeaked, spinning around in terror before relaxing when he saw it was Nancy, but his relaxation turned to worry when he saw her angry expression. “Nance. What...what are you doing here?” 

“Get in the car.”

“Nancy...”

“Now.” Nancy yelled. “You can put your bike in the back.” 

Mike did what she said, a little worried about the angry tone in his sister’s voice. He slid in the passenger seat watching as Nancy started the car. 

“Are you mad?” He asked quietly. 

“What do you think?” She said, throwing him an eye roll. 

“I didn’t think you’d care. Mom and Dad are out for a romantic evening and I thought you’d be happy you didn’t have to pick me up.”

“You never told me where you were going. Besides you just traveled through the woods all by yourself.”

“I did that last night. I do it all the time.”

“Yeah Mike, and I’m starting to realize that’s a problem.” Nancy yelled. “You could have gotten hurt. I mean, what if you just flipped over on your bike or a bear attacked you.” 

“Oh my God,” Mike rolled his eyes, “You’re being ridiculous.” 

“Look. Mom grounded you -“

“Jesus, Nancy. Why are you being such a goodie-goodie two shoes about this.” 

“Because I’m in charge of you for the night and you went missing and you didn’t freaking listen to mom. You keep breaking rules and honestly, you are getting in a really bad habit of leaving without tell us where you’re going.”

“I went to Eleven’s.”

“You went missing!” Nancy screamed, slamming her hands on the steering wheel. Mike flinched, and Holly started bawling. Nancy looked over her shoulder with guilt. 

“Sorry Holly.” She whispered. 

Mike bit his lip and slumped down in the car seat. 

“Listen. I was worried about you, okay?” Nancy continued much more calmly. “Now I understand how worried Mom was. It’s scary when your brother doesn’t come home or when you are not where you are supposed to be. Especially after what happened the last two years with Will and Barb.” 

Mike nodded, “I know. I know, and I’m sorry. But I couldn’t call home because -“

“You weren’t supposed to be there in the first place.” Nancy finished for him.

“Exactly.” Mike said. 

“Look kid. You were really bad today. I think, maybe...I should tell Mom.”

“No! Nancy, please. She’ll be so angry.”

Nancy frowned. She put the car in reverse and backed up with a jerk. 

The whole ride home was bumpy, and uncomfortable. But Nancy promised she wouldn’t tell on Mike as long as he stayed in his room for the rest of the night. That sounded fair and reasonable. 

So as soon as they got home, Nancy popped in a frozen MacNCheese and gave it to her siblings and then she sent Mike to his room. She spent the rest of the night, watching TV with Holly until 9pm, when she put her sister to bed. 

“Goodnight. Sweet dreams.”

“Light on?” Holly asked, sitting up.

“Sure kiddo. Here, we’ll keep the nightlight on. How’s that?” 

“Good.” Holly said, laying back down and pulling her pink comforter to her neck. 

Feeling like a good big-sister, Nancy decided to see if Mike wanted some company. Her brother wasn’t a bad kid. He just wanted to help too many people. His big heart gets him in a lot of messes sometimes. Either way, Nancy couldn’t bring herself to be angry at him for long. 

She walked into his bedroom. “Mike? Do you want some company?” It was dark, so she flipped on the lights. The sight that greeted her was an empty room, and bedsheets pushed back. Nancy almost hit the ceiling, her adrenaline pumped into her bloodstream. Her heart rate spiked. She looked over to the window, but it was shut closed. Did he sneak out? If so, why was the window shut. 

Nancy tried to reason with herself. “He’s probably in the bathroom. Calm down.” But the bathroom was empty as well. 

Alright, screw reasoning, she’s going to kill him. Nancy ran to her room, and threw on her shoes, and then went to the basement to grab her coat. 

That’s where she saw him. He was sitting on the floor, with Lucas and...some other girl on the couch. The girl had red hair and she looked shaken-up. 

“Hi.” Mike whispered, when he saw his sister. “Lucas contacted me through the talkie, and Max needed someone to talk to. So I said they could come through the basement door. I’m just giving them some comics and an ice pack and they’ll be on their way.” 

“Yeah.” Lucas agreed, “We’re leaving. Thank you for the help, Mike. Seriously. We needed you tonight, so thank you.”

“No problem.” Mike said with a smile. He rubbed Max’s back, and helped her up, off the couch. “Stay safe, madmax. Play some extra arcade games for me.” 

“Yeah, okay.” She laughed. Then she shot Nancy a worried glance, and followed Lucas out the basement door. 

Mike locked the door behind them, and then turned to face his big sister. Scratching the back of his head, Mike hunched his shoulders. “Um... I’ll go back to my room.”

There was a stony silence, as Nancy stood ridged, with her fists clenched at her side. She was standing in front of the stairs, blocking Mike’s escape. He stayed still, wanting to go to his room, but feared making a single move.

“What the hell!” Nancy finally said. Her voice was very curt. “I gave you one rule. I told you to stay in your room. Once again, you weren’t where you were supposed to be.”

“But Lucas needed me to -“

“You should have told me!” Nancy screamed, face contorting with the venomous outburst. “Don’t you understand? You tell me where you’re going. Or you tell Mom. You need to tell someone, or we don’t know where the fuck you are!”

“Why do you even care!” Mike screamed, growing sick and tired of being scolded. “You never cared before. Last year, when Will was missing, you were just as excited to lie to Mom and leave the house as I was. And for what? So you could sleep with Steve? Mom was terrified when you stayed out until 4am and didn’t call.” 

“And I regret that. If I could take it back, I would.” 

“Then why did you do it again with Jonathan? Face it, you’re the queen of being places you shouldn’t.”

“That’s different. I was avenging Barb, and I told Mom I was at Ally’s house. At least I told her I was somewhere. You never tell anyone anything and we always worry about you.” 

Mike snorted, “Yeah right! You never gave a shit about me before. You didn’t even know about Eleven until like, we needed you. You had no idea what I went through the last two years and you never cared to find out.”

“Yes I did, Mike! That’s why I wanted us to stop keeping secrets. But here you are, keeping secrets.”

“You keep secrets all the time!” Mike screamed. “Like the time you went with Jonathan. What were you doing? Fucking him too?!”

“I told you, I was avenging Barb. He was helping me.” 

“You wouldn’t have had to avenge Barb if you didn’t drag her to Steve’s house in the first place.” Mike spat bitterly. 

Nancy’s eyes shifted to the side and became glazed with a glassy layer of tears. She still felt responsible for Barb’s death and Mike basically just accused her of the same thing. As she blinked, the tears dripped from her eyelids and slid down her cheeks. Nancy bit her lip tightly in attempt to hide any sound that wanted to escape from her mouth. 

“You are such a jerk.” She whispered, wiping her eyes. “You don’t think I know that? You don’t think I regret that moment every day of my life? I was young and I made a mistake, Mike. But now I can’t sleep most nights without that memory replaying in my head over, and over again. At least you have Eleven back. You have Will! Everyone you love is still alive. I don’t have that. I lost my best friend and it’s all my fault. And that kills me. It freaking kills me. So yeah, maybe I am a little paranoid now especially when my kid brother goes missing. But I’ll be damned if I let another person I love, die. If I can prevent it, I’m going to prevent it. So if that means scolding you when you scare the living shit out of me, and out of Mom, then sorry Mike, but I’m going to scold you. I’m going to do my best to keep you safe.”

Mike stood ridged. “Nancy, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. But I was still in the house. I didn’t really break any rules. Face it, i’m in the right and you’re being ridiculous. I just needed to help Max and Lucas so like, it’s no big deal.”

“I told you to stay in your room.” She yelled. Her face was red with suppressed rage. 

“Don’t be mad. Why are you so mad.” He said, striding towards the stairs. He tried to push past her, but she grabbed his wrist and squeezed.

“Ow.” Mike whined, trying to pull away. “Get off. Come on, Nancy. I wasn’t that bad.”

“You need to tell us where you’re going. And you need to stop breaking the rules. Promise me you’ll do that.”

“No. I said, Let. Go.” Mike stated indignantly. 

“Know what? I’m so done.” Nancy said, dragging Mike by the wrist and half carrying him over to the sofa in the basement. She sat down and flung him over her lap with one tug of the wrist. 

“What the hell!” Mike screamed, putting up a fuss. 

He actively tried to push himself off his sister’s lap, but Nancy easily held him down. His sneakers scuffed on the worn carpet as he tried to get a good enough grip to try and stand up but to no avail. Then he tried to use his own hands to pry his sister’s iron arm off of his waist, but was unable to move the limb even a single inch. Mike inwardly cursed the fact that his big sister was still stronger and bigger than him.

"Get off me, Nancy!" he yelled, "Let go, you bitch!"

Nancy didn't reply, she just kept her hold firm and unyielding.

In frustration, Mike tried flinging his whole body weight this way and that, flailing his limbs wildly in a vain attempt to dislodge Nancy’s grip.

"This is gonna happen, Mike, so you might as well settle down."

Mike’s struggled more. "Just what do you think your gonna do? You can’t beat me.” 

"That’s exactly what I’m going to do, Mike. I’m going to beat your ass bloody." Nancy told him calmly. 

Mike paused for a moment and then resumed his futile struggling. 

“That’s not fair.” He spluttered. 

Nancy actually totally agreed with Mike that it wasn't fair. It wasn't her place to discipline her little brother! That was a parent's job! In a fair world, one where murderous kidnapping monsters from another dimension didn't exist, one where alcoholic mothers and uncaring fathers didn’t exist, one where broken family marriages didn’t exist, she would be free to just be the annoying older sister, she wouldn't be responsible for her brother's well-being, but as her dad had said on numerous occasions: life  **isn't**  fair, so live with it! 

As the situation was, she was responsible for Mike’s well-being because who the hell else is? Certainly not her father. That man can’t even remember how many kids he has. Not her mother, because she is completely unhappy in her marriage and is spending most of her days fantasizing about making love to the guy on the cover of the next romance novel while laying in the bathtub all day and drinking wine 24/7. So that leaves Nancy. The oldest child in the family, born to inherit a disaster of responsibility. Born to try and keep this family from falling apart at the seams. She’s tried so hard this past year to be a mother to her little brother and sister, but her own life was in the way. She had obligations to Barb. To Steve. To Jonathan. To Mrs. Byers. Unfortunately, her absence had a huge negative impact on her family. Thankfully, Mike and her were still pretty close after the demogorgan thing. So to think of losing her brother now, was just not going to happen. If she had to play parent, she was going to do it right. She was going to make sure her brother learns something for once, unlike her mother who never disciplined any of them properly, Nancy would do it. 

“You bitch!” Mike screeched, “let me up!” He managed to smack her leg really freaking hard. Nancy jolted in pain, but kept her hold on him firm. 

“Knock it off, Mike.” 

She probably shouldn’t have said that. Mike began pounding her leg with his fist, leaving nasty bruises, no doubt. In a surge of anger, and to get him to stop, Nancy tugged at the waistband of his pants. She pulled the thick black corduroys to his ankles. His still had his underwear on, and Nancy was not taking those off ever, but she did grab the waistband to threaten him.

“Hit my leg one more time, and I’ll take them down.”

Mike stopped immediately, gripping onto the carpet instead of Nancy’s leg. He started trying to kick her instead. 

Nancy just waited, keeping her grip firm around his brother's slim waist and keeping her feet tucked safely to one side, so that Mike’s flailing legs wouldn't be able to make contact and kick her. Nancy knew she could easily trap Mike’s legs with her own, but she was determined not to inflict that helpless, vulnerable position onto her already agitated younger brother. So Nancy waited. Mike was incredibly stubborn, but she knew that the youngster would have to give up in the end.

After a few more minutes, Mike was getting tired and he was no closer to escaping. Eventually, he went limp across his sister’s lap, panting slightly from the exertion.

"Please, Nancy….."

She swallowed hard – Mike’s pleading tone was much harder to ignore than his angry, indignant outbursts.

"I'm sorry, Mike, I don't want to do this." 

"Then don't," implored Mike, glancing up at Nancy over his shoulder, his puppy-dog expression firmly in place.

"I have no choice."

"What do you mean you have no choice? Course you do. You can choose not to do this. Come on.” 

Nancy stared down for a moment into her brother's warm, expressive brown eyes. The strength of her feelings towards her baby brother overwhelmed her for a moment and she blinked fiercely to disperse the sudden rush of moisture to her eyes. Mike was and always will be her responsibility! Nancy gritted her teeth and pulled together all of her emotions. And that was why she had to do this.  If Mike doesn’t start respecting the rules, if he doesn’t tell anyone where he is going or what he’s doing, then the kid could easily get himself hurt and no one would know...or worse. No, Nancy can’t even think about watching what happened to Barb happen to Mike. 

With this in mind, Nancy raised her hand and brought it down right in the center of her brother's butt. Mike automatically tensed at the connection, but then realized a moment later that it hadn't hurt at all.

Nancy shook her head at herself. The fact that the swat hadn't made any sound at all spoke volumes. Get a grip, Nancy, she thought to herself, this is for Mike’s own good. She raised her hand again and this time, brought it down sharply and with considerable speed. Mike’s involuntary yelp and the sound of the slap in the quiet basement told Nancy that this time, she had been painfully effective.

"No, Nancy, come on,” Mike pleaded. This can’t be happening!

Nancy ignored him and raised her hand again, continuing to spank at a slow tempo. Mike yelped or owwed as each one landed. After swat number five, Mike also began to squirm across his older sister’s knees and Nancy automatically tightened her grip around the boy's waist. She was used to watching her little brother squirm and wriggle when her father smacked him and she thought that Mike was trying to escape. But now, after experiencing a genuine struggle to escape, Nancy could tell the difference – this was no escape attempt, it was simply an instinctive reaction of Mike’s body trying to evade the pain. Nancy doubted that her little brother even realized he was doing it.

"You're hurting me, Nancy," He whined. 

For a second, Nancy faltered. She didn’t want to hurt him. But Nancy recognized the truth that discipline was an unwelcomed, but necessary aspect of taking responsibility for someone else. She just wanted to get this thing over with!

"I know it hurts, Mike," Nancy replied quietly, continuing her swatting. Suddenly, she realized that she had been smacking him in the the same spot and quickly adjusted by spanking left and right and then top to bottom, covering every inch, before repeating the process.

Mike couldn't believe how much Nancy’s hand hurt! It was like his sister just lit his ass on fire all of a sudden. The stinging burn was steadily increasing and Mike hated it. His own father never hit this hard. 

“Nancy. I’m sorry.” He let out a whimper because this was starting to be too much. 

Nancy apologized too, which Mike found rather odd.

He jerked reflexively as Nancy applied a sharp swat to the top of his right thigh, followed immediately by one to the left.

Nancy felt sick, as she saw her handprint blossom red on her baby brother's milk-white skin. Mike’s underwear had protected Nancy from the distress of having to see the physical result of the chastisement. Now, the reality of the situation was hitting her full force – she was spanking her Mike! –the same kid that ran to her for comfort when he was three. The same kid that wanted to spend time with her everyday after school. The same kid who cried when she went to school and he was too young to go. Tears prick behind Nancy’s eyes, before she forcefully blinked them away. Biting the inside of her cheek hard, Nancy applied three more stinging slaps to each thigh watching with horror as the skin grew red, before returning her swats to the crest of Mike’s butt. 

" **Ahg** …please…..Nancy…I'm sorry…. **Owww** ….I promise I'll **ow ow ow fucking hurts** ….I’ll tell you next time, okay? I’ll tell you where I’m going. I won’t leave the house or my room. I won’t see Eleven without telling you. I promise. **oh God.** I won’t break any more rules… **Ow. Fuck. Ow, Nancy.**

She desperately wanted to stop. Mike recognized what he'd done wrong and had promised not to do it again, so surely that was enough? But she didn’t want Mike to ever do this again. She didn’t want to wake up tomorrow night and worry about wether or not Mike was kidnapped, murdered, or just off galavanting through the woods alone. And she never _ever_ wanted to do this again. So she planned to make it a one time thing, and in order to do that, Nancy really needed to drive the lesson home. 

She gritted her teeth because she couldn't bear this for much longer either. Needing to finish this before she completely lost it, Nancy upped the tempo of her swats. Mike was now pleading continuously for Nancy to stop, but Nancy tuned it out, forced herself to simply concentrate on the moment and the action of lifting her hand and bringing it sharply down.

At the increased onslaught, Nancy’s heart nearly broke as she felt Mike’s small hand circling her ankle and holding on tightly. Feeling like an absolute monster, Nancy turned her attention to Mike’s sit-spots, which had already been thoroughly swatted when Nancy was traversing from the top to the bottom of her brother's backside. Now however, she increased the force slightly as she landed a series of sharp swats solely to the sensitive area. She was rewarded a minute later by a hitching breath from the dark-haired boy. Nancy kept going, tipping him forward a little bit. 

By this point, Mike’s quiet sniffling had deteriorated to sobbing and his legs were kicking involuntarily as each swat landed. Nancy felt a solitary tear escape and trickle down her cheek as she applied the last five slaps to her brother's sit-spots.

There. 

Nancy took a deep, shaky breath, fighting to regain control of her emotions and quickly used the back of the hand she had been spanking with to wipe her eyes. She then released Mike, fully expecting the boy to scramble to his feet and get as far away from her as possible. Nancy had no doubt that Mike must hate her right now.

Mike however did not move – he laid limp across his sister’s knees, the force of his sobs shaking his small frame.

"Mike?" Nancy questioned hesitantly. Mike didn't respond, but Nancy wasn't sure that he had heard her over the noise of his crying. She desperately wanted to comfort the child, but how could she, considering that she was entirely responsible for the state that her brother was in?

Nancy reached out and lifted Mike to his feet. Maybe he hadn't realized it was over and that he was now free? Nancy waited for the boy to pull up his jeans and flee the room, but instead suddenly found herself with a lapful of Mike. His arms automatically slid around her slender shoulders as he buried his face in Nancy’s soft blue sweater. 

Mike whimpered as his thoroughly spanked rear settled on Nancy’s thighs, his arms sliding around his big sister and hugging tight. Nancy didn't know exactly what to do, so she settled for keeping her legs really still to try and limit the discomfort for the kid. 

Mike felt totally miserable – not just from the physical pain, which was considerable, but from the feeling that he had really let his sister down. And his mom. He was just trying to do the right thing all the time, but he shouldn’t worry his family like that. And he definitely shouldn’t have said what he said about Barbra. Nancy does nothing but look after him, often forgoing her own pleasures to make Mike happy, especially when they were younger, and he knew he had taken that completely for granted. He kinda used her tonight to get what he wanted. 

"I'm really soh-horry, Nancy." Mike was struggling to talk with the force of his sobs.

"Hush. Mike. It's all right, you're okay now." Nancy repeated those words for a few minutes trying to get him to stop crying. 

"Pl-please don't h-hate me, Nancy, I'm s-sorry."

"Hate you? Mike, of course I don't hate you!"

Nancy pushed Mike away from her, keeping one arm locked securely around his back and tilted the boy's head up with a finger under his chin so that she could look at him.

"But I was horrible to you," sniffed Mike, searching his sister’s intense blue gaze for absolution.

Nancy gently thumbed Mike’s tears away, even though they were replaced only seconds later by new ones.

"Now you listen to me Michael," Nancy said gently, but resolutely, "I could never hate you! No matter what you do, you'll always be my baby brother and I love you! I actually thought you would hate me, because I spanked you, but I only did it because I care about what happens to you. Understand?"

Mike nodded, his dimples making an appearance through his tears as he smiled up at his big sister. 

“I don’t hate you either.” Mike said, “Could never hate you, but I don’t like the pain in my ass right now.”

Nancy chuckled, standing him up, and then getting up with him. 

“A nice cool bath will help. Maybe put some of mom’s lotion on before you go to bed.” 

Mike scrunched up his nose, “I don’t want to smell like a flower.” He sniffled a little, Nancy could tell it was his body’s way of calming down. He would have the sniffles for a little while. 

She listened as he went to the bathroom and turned on the facet. Nancy went into her room and pulled back her white floral comforter, and slipped into bed. 

“Nancy?” There was a knock at her door. She rolled over and checked the time: 11pm. 

“Yeah?” She asked, blinking her eyes a few times. 

“Oh sorry, were you asleep?”

“No. It’s fine, Mike.” She said sitting up. “What’s up?”

“Can we...watch TV or something?”

She furrowed her eyebrows together, even though it was dark and he couldn’t see her confused expression. 

“What? Why?”

“I don’t know. I just thought, maybe we should.”

“It’s late, Mike. You should be in bed.”

Mike nodded, and started to close the door. 

“Wait.” Nancy said, hopping out of bed and grabbing her pink robe. “Put in ghostbusters. I’m in the mood to hear that song.”

Mike smiled, rushing down stairs and Nancy followed closely behind. She went to the kitchen and pulled out two bowls of ice cream. Her mind briefly flashed to when her and Mike where little and their parents were fighting. They would sneak into the basement and eat bowls of ice cream together talking about everything and anything. 

She had a feeling tonight was going to be one of those nights. 

**Author's Note:**

> Hi guys! Hope you enjoyed. I have some friends who requested this :) 
> 
> Thank you for all the comments and kudos on the last fic. :)


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